Clip board for a shopping cart



United States met 1 3,539,204

[72] in Theodme Keuel 1,344,498 6/1920 Fox 281/15(B)UX 3400 Monti-use,Houston, Texas 77006 1,478,880 12/1923 Otterbein 281/ 15(B)UX [21] Appl.N0. 726,444 2,731,764 1/1956 Zeller 281/15(B)UX [22] Filed May 3, 19682,888,761 6/1954 Miller 40/308 [45] Patented Nov. 10, 1970 3,212,79410/1965 Crossman et a]. 281/45X Primary Examiner-Jerome Schnall s4 CLIPBOARD FOR A SHOPPING CART Wall" 1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 281/45, 40/10 Int. A board for attachment to a shopping cart[50] Field Of Search 281/45, f holdi g grocery lists and [he like, theboard comprising 3 15B; 40/308; 24/67.09,67.11, 81(al1); 08/ compositeunitary structure formed by extrusion of a therf moplastic material, andincluding as integral parts thereof a [56] Re erences cued panel board,a clip for securing the board to a cart member, a NI STATES PATENTSflexible lip for resiliently clamping a paper to the board, and a 2/1918Baker 108/52X receptacle for a pencil or the like.

CLIP BOARD FOR A SHOPPING CART The primary objects of this invention areto provide a clip board which may be readily attached to a shopping cartfor securely holding a shopping list or the like in a position for easyviewing and access by the user; which is constructed as a compositeunitary structure by extrusion of a suitable thermoplastic material, inwhich the extruded structure includes as integral parts thereof novelclip elements which serve to removably secure the board to the cart and.which serve to grip a shopping list or the like supported on the board,and a receptacle for a pencil or the like; and which may be manufacturedcheaply.

Other and more specific objects and advantages of this invention willbecome more readily apparent from the following detailed descriptionwhen read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which illustratesa useful embodiment in accordance with this invention.

in the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a view, in perspective, showing the clip board mounted on ashopping cart;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view, in perspective, of the clip board; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the attachment clip portion of the device.

Referring to the drawing there is shown in FIG. 1, the rear portion of aconventional grocery shopping cart, designated generally by the letterC, having barred side panels 1-1 secured to a generally U-shaped tubularrear frame consisting of upstanding sidepieces 2-2, the upper ends ofwhich are bent rearwardly and connected together to form the horizontalpusher bar or handle 3.

ln carts of the conventional design illustrated, a barred rear panel 4is secured to a transverse pivot rod 5, the ends of which are journaledin the sidepieces at a point somewhat below and forwardly of handle 3.The rear panel may thus be swung forward to permit nesting with othercarts in the wellknown manner.

The clip board in accordance with this invention comprises a compositestructure formed in one piece by extrusion of a suitable knownthermoplastic material through a die of appropriate shape. As so formedthe clip board, as best seen in H68. 2 and 3, comprises a flatrectangular riser section 10. The lower longitudinal margin of the innersection is formed to define a forwardly projecting generally tubularclip 11 having a bore 12 and a slot 13 extending longitudinallythroughout the length of the clip and opening to the exterior thereof.The slot is defined by spaced lips l415 which will have sufficientflexibility to permit them to be spread apart sufficiently to allow theclip to be forced over pivot rod (FIG. 3) and to then retract so as toclamp tightly about the rod when the latter is fully inserted in bore12.

Riser merges along its upper margin with a rearwardly extending flatrectangular panel 16 of the same width as riser 10. The height of riser10 will be made such as to extend from rod 5 to just above handle 3 andpanel 16 will be made long enough to extend rearwardly past handle 3which will serve as a firm support for the panel.

The upper margin of riser 10 will also be formed to provide a flange 17which extends above panel 16, and has a convexly curved portion 18 whichturns rearwardly and downwardly to define along its rearward margin anupwardly curving lip 19. The curved flange and lip will function as aspring clip biased toward the surface of panel 16 so as to securely gripa sheet of paper P (FIG. 1), such as a grocery list, which is insertedbetween panel 16 and lip 19.

The curved portion 18 is so shaped as to cooperate with the accessiblesupport for a grocery list or the like, which will be in full view, andon which writing may be readily and easily done.

As noted, the clip board may be constructed of any suitable andwell-known thermoplastic material which lends itself to extrusionthrough asuitably formed die whereby the entire device can be formed asa unitary structure. In practice, the extrusion will be in the form ofan elongate web having the cross-sectional shape, as seen in side viewin FIG. 2. This web may then be cut at selected points to form clipboards of any desired width but of identical cross-sectionalconfiguration. This provides a very low cost of manufacture per unit,since no assembly operations of any type will be involved. Somefinishing of rough edges and comers may be performed if found desirable.

As noted there are numerous thermoplastic materials commerciallyavailable which are adapted for making the desired extrusions having thedesired degree of stiffness as well as the limited flexibility requiredfor the functioning of clip 11 and lip 19. Conventional plasticmaterials suitable for this purpose include: cellulose butyrate acetate,cellulose acetate, cellulose propionate, styrene polymers, acrylicpolymers and combinatrons.

The clip boards may be made of transparent plastic or may be colored, asdesired.

It will also be evident that the clip boards may be made to carryadvertising material and the like.

it will be understood that changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of the illustrative embodiment within the scope of the appendedclaims but without departing from the spirit of this invention.

lclaim:

1. A clip board for a shopping cart having a transverse pivot rodswingablysupporting a rear cart panel and a pusher bar mounted above andrearwardly of said pivot rod, comprising a composite one-piece structureformed by extrusion from a thermoplastic material to include:

i. a flat generally rectangular riser section having a vertical heightto extend from the pivot rod to just above said pusher bar;

ii. the lower horizontal margin of said riser section being formed todefine a generally tubular clip having a longitudinal slot, the edges ofwhich are resiliently spreadable whereby to receive and resilientlygrasp said pivot rod;

iii. said riser section merging at its upper margin into a rectangularpanel of substantially the same width as said riser section disposed toextend rearwardly over said pusher bar for support thereon;

iv. said upper margin of the riser section being formed to provide aflange extending above said panel and curved rearwardly and downwardlyto define at its rearward margin a springy lip element parallel to uppermargin biased against the upper surface of said panel for graspingtherebetween a sheet of paper and the like;

said lip element having a curvature cooperating with the opposed portionof the panel to define therebetween a generally tubular receptacle for apencil or the like.

. the portion of the flange between said upper margin and

